Il Convento dei Cappuccini, Rome

Next on the agenda for today was a visit to Il Convento dei Cappuccini. The main reason we visited here was because of what I had read about the crypts and they sounded quite bizarre. I’m not sure where my fascination with skulls has come from but we have certainly seen some amazing sights.

This church and convent complex safeguards what is possibly Rome's strangest sight: crypt chapels where everything from the picture frames to the light fittings is made of human bones. Between 1732 and 1775 resident Capuchin monks used the bones of 3700 of their departed brothers to create this macabre memento mori (reminder of death). It is a 30m-long passageway containing six crypts, each named after the type of bone used to decorate (skulls, shin bones, pelvises etc).

Rather than burying the remains of their dead brethren, the monks decorated the walls and ceilings of the crypts with their bones as a way of reminding themselves that death could come at any time and they must always be ready to meet God. A plaque in the crypt reads “What you are now, we once were; what we are now, you shall be.”

Mummified monks are dressed in friar’s clothes and hung from walls and ceilings. With the addition of electricity, light fixtures were incorporated into some of the hanging monks, bringing a new meaning to the phrase “the eternal light”.

While the museum attached was interesting, the crypts were totally fascinating!! Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos which I do find kind of strange - they are happy to charge tourists to view the crypts so they can’t be that sacred, but no photos allowed. Those who know Brad though, know that he managed to snap a couple of photos. And there are certainly lots of images online. This is one place I will always remember.Read more